Wonks Goes West
Tom Clough
erty is leaving his post as Executive Director of the Adam Smith Institute at the end of April. He will be taking up a new post as Managing Editor of the libertarian Reason Foundation think-tank in Washington DC.
Dr Madsen Pirie, president of the ASI tells Guido, “We are very sorry to be losing Tom because of the incredible work he did to build up the ASI, but this is a wonderful opportunity for him and we wish him well in his new venture.” There are a lot of ladies in Westminster who will miss the charmer’s smile too..
We are on the eve of a round of musical chairs in Westminster’s wonk-land – expect announcements soon. Downing Street is looking likely to have a big re-organisation of personnel on the policy unit front – Steve Hilton is off to California and Clegg’s strategy wonk Richard Reeves is also leaving for America. They are not the only ones said to be leaving Downing Street. Foreceful political direction of the civil service is much needed, the permanent bureaucracy has become far too dominant in Downing Street…
It’s Murdoch’s fault I had 56,394 Big Macs for breakfast.
Its murdoch’s fault if all the MPs are wussy and compliant and scared to stick there head above the parapet.
Is Big Mac the name of one of your rentboys?
‘Ee made me eat ‘em as well. And a bucket ‘o chips. And a trawler’s worth of fish fingers.
I ‘ate Murdoch. With a nice Chianti.
You are all missing the main story – what about poor Mr Catarrh Dah – and his yoomun roits?
Dear Eddie
Thank you for your letter, which landed right outside my office, the Shadow Department for Education here in Westminster today.
The balloon must have floated all the way from your Labour Party-provided school which the nasty Tories want to close and kill the children, right over the Thames which the Tories throw the babies they have killed into, over parliament, and maybe the Tower of London, where the Tories torture people, something that we would never condone..
I enjoyed reading that you like Star Wars. My favourite film is The Battleship Potemkin.
I have your address, so we will be sending around Environmental Control Officers to re-educate you on the effects of littering and the environment. As your parents are clearly not bringing you up as an environmentally-concious person you will have to be taken into care.
Do you think you could let us know all your schoolfriend’s addresses too? It’s the Right Thing to Do. There’s a good boy.
Yours, etc.
“where the Tories torture people, something that we would never condone”
True, we would fly them via Diego Garcia to somewhere warm first.
Yes – somewhere on the edge of the Caribeans’ largest island, I hear they have a very sophisticated and exclusive dry land swimming course run by the CIA.
I wish Aquasputum well.
Historical note:
Gannex raincoats were founded by Joseph Kagan.
Harold Wilson famously wore a Gannex raincoat. Kagan was knighted in Wilson’s resignation honours list in 1970, and in 1976 Wilson again honoured him, making him a life peer as Baron Kagan, of Elland in the County of West Yorkshire.
Kagan was imprisoned in 1980 for 10 months for embezzlement from his own companies. He lost his knighthood, but remained a peer in the House of Lords until his death in 1996.
Kagan embezzled funds. Kagan funded Wilson’s private office. Wilson repe*tedly honoured him and put him in the Lords. Go figure.
O/T
But why did Squeaker call Galloway at his first PMQ’s. Is this normal?
Good question.
Oh! Hold on.
One word answer which explains all:
Bercow.
At least Galloway turned up for work unlike that other Jock Hunt.
Do you mean me?
If so, that’s not fair, – I’m an idiot on compulsory sick leave, – let out on parole in the community from to time.
Only 101 days off!
ROTFL
Well, my daughter works in a shop and is having to work today. Even though it’s her day off. Unpaid. But then, she would only be getting just above the minimum wage anyway, so I suppose it’s no great loss.
This is what happens when the coddled and over-priviliged MPs of successive Governments fuck up the economy and leave people in fear of their jobs.
Thanks, Nads
“Thanks” should be replaced by “Go”.
There, fixed it for you.
Quite true Nadine. It’s 365 days off in my case.
Nadine, Nadine.
A lot of us do understand politics. Even if MP’s got 90 days off a year, which I still feel is excessive, it’s still a bloody sight more than most ordinary people get. Tweeting this his is not going to help matters. I’d just shut-up if I were you.
Sir Stuart Bell:
The honourable lady is quite right on this occasion. It is far more than that.
I think the average in the private sector is something like 23 days per year + bank holidays (8 usually) which = 31
Public sector of course generally get more than this, my wife is a Nurse and gets around 44 including bank holidays.
Thank you for tweeting this and reminding me what a bunch of lick spittle little $hits MP’s are.
PS – Can you claim expenses whilst on your leave days?
Does that total include statutory sick leave, union -run shopping trips and 6 grandmother’s funerals per year:)
Forgot about that. As a public sector employee you are generally entitled to 6 months sick at full pay, followed by a further 6 months at half pay. Plus of course you still accrue your holiday entitlement.
Private sector usually around 21 days and then thats it.
Plus maternity leave that means, if you get it (in) right that you can pick up pay without working and keep your job and pension rights for five years or more without lifting one finger in work.
Only 101 days off?
She really is a noob.
Didn’t that knighthood come through?
Shome mishtake, shurely?
I hope you tweeted this whilst on holiday as I cannot see what this serves your constituency you arrogant SOAB
And increasingly don’t f.ucking want to “know or understand politics” because of insensitive, stupid, out of touch Huhnes like Dopy Dorries.
Why doesn’t she do something to f.ucking help, and not sit around pontificating on blogs about…. oh sh.it! Hoist by my own petard.
do people not see what point she is trying to make? Just because they are not physically sitting on a green bench in the HoC does not mean they are not working in their constituencies!
We should trade nom de plumes (or noms de plume, even)
British scientists have restored the sight of blind mice by transplanting light-sensitive photoreceptor cells into their eyes.
Rumor has it there were three.
The Farmer’s wife has been charged by the rspca for alleged extreme cruelty to mice by cutting off their tails with a carving knife.
I never thought I would see such such a thing in my life.
‘Rumor” – you a Yank?
By the way did one of the aforementioned creatures ever get caught for running up that clock?
Sack the lot of them they are destroying this country.
Sir Humphrey’s rule OK?
Not funny. It is clear Osborne is already under Sir Humphrey’s spell.
Bubble bubble toil and trouble
Ozzie’s gonna make tax double.
Downing St has a ‘policy unit’ pull the other one
I wish Primark well.
Kiss of death
I say chaps!!! – hold fire on anything that might upset Brussels – they’re holding a wizard position for me in the Politburo when I’ve done here! – watt?
OMG the leftwing, poorly labour educated, twerp called watt is back with some new odd words – chaps and wizard! Bless!
Working in the labour hq must require normal people to carry around a special dictionary to translate all these weird words that they use.
I think the Red Millbankers hold a Politburo meeting and unlock the prison door to the three educated speech writers – one who can read, one who can write and the third, highly qualified, to keep an eye on the other two. They then just “wing it with Wikki.”
Can anyone tell me how much clout the Adam Smith Institute actually has with the Government?
Some of their ideas seem good, but are they ever successful in implementing them?
I think the BBC mentioned them once.
By mistake.
Well that privatisation thing they pioneered seemed to catch on…
the ASI is far too right-wing for the swivel-eyed social democrats running No 10.
We used to listen to them and implemented their policies, when we were in Government, unfortunately this Social democrat Government we have now, does not understand economics.
I would like to comment on this but I am still laughing at Theresa Mays mindboggling incompetence.
Dont sack her Dave – another gift to UKIP that keeps on giving.
Priceless.
The Home Office is stacked with Labour’s unelectables who were made civil servants as a reward for getting Labour elected. It’s difficult to remove dead wood when the dead wood controls the axe.
Government: “Hello Labour placeman civil servant – clear your desk – you are sacked”.
Not difficult is it?
And anyway, judgong from Camerons put down of Carswell yesterday for asking about the Sir Humphreys I rather think Cameron likes the socialists who infest the civil service.
He obviously likes them more than the real traditional Conservatives on his back benches.
Douglas – you know you wnat to – join UKIP.
You obviously have never held power and had to deal with the civil service, or you wouldn’t talk such unmitigated rubbish, Sophie. I suggest a crash course in Yes Minister – forget the jokes, just focus on employment law and how the civil service have been around since the early 1800′s in this guise and what they do for Government – and if you think that your debating society solutions will win the war you would provoke with them, you are more delusional than a UKIP Prime Minister wannabe…. oh, yeah, right.
Carry on.
Eee by gum, lass, out wit’ yer malarky! By gum, happens we’re a sovereign nation by eck ee by gum. That no-gooder will be out to yonder Jordan by t’ weekend, by eck. We’re sovereign nation, and sovereign nations can do that. By eck.
If we are a sovereign nation then why are we subject to the rulings of a foreign court?
If the Tories were really, really interested in deporting this 7th century intellectual they could do it today. But they are not.
For a laugh, if they really, really wanted to they could deport him to Strasburg.
Let them feed & house him & his wives & children.
The Conservative led Coalition accepts & supports that it is a mere regional council for the real power in this land – the EU.
Europhile Tories – come out of the closet – the rest of you, vote UKIP.
in winning an election they would try to keep potential UKIPers on side.
But they’re NOT interested – which can only mean…?
Point of Order:
The ECHR is nothing to do with the EU, actually.
But don’t let that extremely well made point disrupt the UKIP narrative, Sophie.
Scotland needs an independent inquiry into the SNP’s suppression Doosan’s decision to scrap major investment in Scotland.
If you look closely you can just make out the water dripping from his ears.
He needs a tap on the head.
Fcking sixth-former wonk can fck off to Washington and stay there.
Seems like they’re all scuttling away.
It’s all over for the condems.
“Downing Street is looking likely to have a big re-organisation of personnel on the policy unit front”
Yup. It’s called Election Defeat, and it’s due in 2015.
Probably, but with a bit of luck from their point of view, the EU Commission may order Downing Street to postpone the GE if things look too bad for their placemen on this side of the Channel. In politics, as elsewhere, three years is a long time. Without some major, unforeseen political upheaval here I’m certainly not optimistic about our future as an independent nation.
What must Google think of me? It’s targeted ads constantly bring up red diesel and mature dating.
Have you been completely honest with us?
I want all those Russian Brides and multiple gangbang orgy sites that people sometimes complain about here but unfortunately I just get DIY store adverts in German.
At one stage you might have got me. For 3 years I owned http://www.B&Q.com whilst their’s was DIY.com. Threatened to take me to court because I had no legit business of that name, so I gave it up.
Corporatism. Nothing like it. How did they know you did not have a business of that name? Why were they asleep when the names were given out? They should have bought it from you.
Long story, but basically I chickened out.
And I had about 200 other .com registered @ £30 each per annum. To much hassle.
You were probably wise to ‘chicken out’. A court ruling regarding cybersquatting found in favour of the trademark holder (See the Nominet website).
Dot Coms are of course ultimately in the jurisdiction of the USA but if you are in the UK you would have probably been taken to court in England and lost.
Can you have ‘&’ in a domain name?
But & is not a valid character for a domain name?
May have been and.
BandQ links direct to diy.com
But it can go further down the strap:
http://www.iopeningtimes.co.uk/B&Q/
BTW Guess who has hogged DIY?
http://www.diy.com/
‘DIY’ is generic. ‘B&Q’ is a trademark. To be fair, B&Q is doing nothing unlawful keeping the DIY domain, and commercially, very wise to do so.
So what?
Is that Tommy Fatboy in the straw boater?
Looks like a weight-watchers meeting to me.
What has happened to mrs Balls’ blouse?
Nowt. It’s still full of little tits.
They were given expenses and asked to read from a script, the staff however were gagged.
Manboobs shurely?
Wonk Goes West or Wonks Go West.
Unlike a bisexual, you can’t have it both ways.
When I read it I thought it said ‘Rats leaving sinking ship’
Nowadays the expression seems to have become Rats joining a sinking ship.
Well given the way the government is currently handling it’s policy decisions I’d say a massive shake up is long overdue.
C’mon cameron get a backbone , cut the libdems down to size and get on with the job like a proper tory.
There’s more bones in a pastie than Cameron’s back
At the risk of understatement ‘ he is a bit of a disappointment’
Wonder what MrsT thinks to him?
About as much as she thought of Ted Heath.
I rather think you are right. LOL!
Yes, there’s taking the piss and there’s taking the piss, this is beginning to look like a case of seriously taking the piss….
LET’S PANIC
:BBC journalists and technicians to be balloted for industrial action over pay, say unions.
But don’t record programmes near a naked flame
Let’s hope it’s protracted – a month would do to get the poll figures back in line…
Will people get a refund on their TV licence if there’s a BBC strike?
No, I thought not.
Like my new low voice, – and my partial display of saucily skewed right chest?
It’s the testosterone tabs.
I have the wig you must be looking for.
Who the heck invents these non-jobs anyway?
Let the bod get a real job, or use his connections to get a Council House and live on the Dole.
He looks like Gordon Brown’s younger brother.